Educational Science

Tundra Shrubs Turn into Trees as Arctic Warms

Tundra is by definition a cold, treeless landscape. But scientists have found that in a part of the Eurasian Arctic, willow and alder shrubs, once stunted by harsh weather, have been growing upward to the height of trees in recent decades. The reason for the change: the warming Arctic climate,...

Why India Just Suffered the World's Biggest Blackout

India endured the world's largest power failure today (July 31), with a blackout that affected 700 million people, including the nation's capital of New Delhi. Trains and subway systems stopped, while private businesses and hospitals geared up their generators, the New York Times reported. Today's blackout followed another large outage...

Most of the time, Chris Kirby chases storms, but sometimes they come to him. During a drive through the mountains this Saturday afternoon (July 28) near his home in Aurora, Colo., to photograph mountain goats and test radio equipment, he got quite a surprise: a rare, high-elevation tornado. Kirby, who's...

Spectacular Texas Thundercloud Caught on Video

An ominous cloud formation that developed in the Texas panhandle last week looks like a CGI effect straight out of a summer blockbuster. This tornadic thunderstorm, which formed near the town of Adrian during the evening of May 21 and gave rise to at least one twister, offered passersby with...

Chocoholics, Take Note: Cravings Don't Increase Before Menstruation

Lay the blame for your chocolate habit wherever you want, but a new study suggests that women's cocoa cravings do not increase before menstruation. In the study, college women were no more likely to say they had an intense desire for chocolate during the days leading up to their period...

Club Drug Ecstasy Harms Memory, Study Reveals

Recreational use of the club drug Ecstasy could cause memory problems, new research finds. The research is the first study of Ecstasy users before they begin to use the drug regularly, which helps rule out alternative causes for the memory loss, said study leader Daniel Wagner, a psychologist at the...

Mass Shootings: Why It's So Hard to Predict Who Will Snap

As the alleged shooter in last week's Aurora, Colo., movie theater killings made his first appearance in court today (July 23), his every facial tic was scrutinized for clues as to why he might have launched his attack against theater-goers at a midnight showing of the newest Batman movie last...

Scientists to Hold Bake Sale for NASA Saturday

Scientists are trading telescopes for aprons this week to sell Milky Way cupcakes, Saturn cake, and chocolate chip Opportunity cookies in an effort to salvage U.S. planetary science projects. The 2013 budget proposal submitted by the Obama administration earlier this year would cut funding for NASA's planetary science projects by...

Baby Manta Rays 'Breathe' In Utero

A rare ultrasound glimpse at a fetal manta ray reveals that that these graceful fish can breathe in the womb. Unlike most animals that give birth to live young, manta rays don't have placentas or umbilical cords. That means their fetuses must get nutrients in some other way. Despite the...

Bath Salts May Be as Addictive as Cocaine, Study Suggests

Recreational drugs called bath salts, which have gained popularity recently and have been in the news for their bizarre effects on users, have the potential for abuse and addiction, similar to that of cocaine. Bath salts, which, despite their name, have no use in the tub, are different variations of...